Amalgamator



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H. (100K. AMALGAMATOB..

No*I 458,823. PatentedS-ept. l, 1891.

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H COOK ,AMALGAMATOIL Patented Sept l, 1891.

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H. COOK. AMALGAMATOR.

No. 458,823. @med sept. 1, 189:1...

FIG/.3.

Ww GM/w `=NITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

HENRY COOK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ANIALGAMATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,823, datedSeptember 1, 1891.

Application filed May 20, 1887. Serial No. 238,815. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern.-

Beit known that I, HENRY COOK, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Amalgamators, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so construct. an amalgamator that itwill readily and thoroughly separate gold or like material from theearth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of myimproved amalgamator. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line l. 2,Fig. Fig. 3 isasection on the line 3 d, Fig. 2. Fig. el is a transversesection on the line 5 G, Fig. 2. ing a modification of my invention, andFigs. G and 7 are views illustrating special features of the same.

Referring in the first instance to Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4, A is a cylindermounted, preferably, in a horizontal. position and provided with twoannular rails a a, which rest on suitable supporting-wheels b l), havingtheir bearings in brackets la on a frame B. This frame supports thewhole structure and is mounted in the present instance on runners B',which allow the frame to be moved from one position to another, asrequired. The cylinder A is driven in the present instance by a shaft C,having a handled. arm c, this shaft being geared with a longitudinalshaft C by bevelgears c c2, and on the shaft C is a spur-pinion d,meshing with an annular rack D, secured to the cylinder, as shown inFigs. l and 2, so that when the shaft C is turned the cylinder will berotated, the friction-rollers Z) h sustaining the weight of thecylinder. It will be understood, however, that when it is desired todrive the amalgamator by power the arm c can be removed and a suitabledrivingpulley attached to the shaft C, or both may be used if foundnecessary.

In the present instanceI have provided the cylinder A with an outercasing E and an inner casing F, connected at the inlet end to a roundedhead G and at the outlet end to a flanged ring l-l.

The cylinder is provided with an internal screw-iange I, which extendsfrom the head G atthe inlet-opening to the flange Il at theoutlet-opening, and is preferably made of the Fig. 5 is a viewillustrat? same depth throughout, except at the outer end, where ittapers off, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to allow a regular dow of waterover the table S.

Situated centrally in the cylinder A is a screen-cylinder J, made in thepresent instance of wire-gauze. This cylinder is also provided with ascrew-flange K, preferably of a pitch somewhat steeper than the pitch ofthe screw-flange I, this iiange K by preference extending from end toend of the cylinder J and being of about the same diameter as theopening g in the head G. The cylinder J, as well as the cylinder A, isopen at both ends, and extending into it is a trough L, through whichthe material to be acted upon is fed. At the outlet end of the cylinderJ is a trough or spout M, which guides the material to one side of themachine, where it falls into any suitable receptacle.

Extending through the upper portion of` the cylinder J is a pipe N,which communicates with a reservoirP through a pipe n,

provided with a regulating-valve n", the res-` ervoir being supported onsuitable standards B2 above the cylinder A, as shown in Fig. 2. Thetrough M and the outer end of the pipe N are supported by bracket-barsN', which are attached at their lower ends to a spout Q, secured to theframe of the machine.

The pipe N has a series of nozzles m, proj ecting transversely to thelength of the machine, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4f, the water whichescapes from these nozzles passing through the meshes of thescreen-cylinderJ and impinging against the inner periphery of thecylinder A, so that the jets will not only readily clean and dislodge`any foreign inatter that may cling to the cylinder J, but will alsocleanse the inner surface of the cylinder A. The pipe N is also providedwith a series of openings Zin its under side, in order that a constantspray of water may act upon and wash off any material or earthy matterthat may be adhering to the stones and rocks passing through thecylinder J, as described hereinafter. rlhe bend or elbow 7o' of the pipeN is also provided with a series of perforations to permit jets of waterto act upon the material in the trough L as it passesthrough into thevamalgamator. i

The cylinder J is secured to the cylinderA IOO at the inlet-end bystraps jand by a spider 7" at the outlet end, so that both cylinders Jand A will revolve at the same speed, the coutents ot the cylinder J,however, owing to the steeper pitch of the screw K,.being fed alongfaster than the contents of the cylinder A.

Located some distance below the outlet end of the cylinder A is a spoutQ, having a iiat inclined plate q, provided at its outer end with a ribq', and below the plate q are in the present instance two plates s s inthe form of steps, while below the plate s' is a receiving-pan R,containing mercury. The plate s is in such position in respect to theoverflow-line of the pan R that the mercury in the pan will be level ornearly level with the plate, so that the gold and mercury on the platewill pass ott to the mercury in the pan. Above the plate s is a gate ordashboard t, which can be raised or lowered, as desired, a similar gatet being located above the plate s.

Extending from the receiving-pan R, preferably at an angle,'is anamalgamating-table S, having ribs u at intervals.

Extending from the outer end of the tube N and bent downward, as shownin Fig. 2, is a pipe N2, having a right-angled perforated tube n2 at itslower end, this tube extending from one side of the spout Q to the otherbetween the two gates or dash-boards tt', in order to evenly spread andwash the material as it passes from the plate s to the plate s and underthe lower gate t.

The table S is adj ustably connected to the spout Q by bolts w at eachside of the apparatus, and the outer end of this table is supported bybrace-rods W, which are pivoted at one end to the flanges of the tableand adjustably secured to the frame B by set-screws V, which passthrough slots w in the rods, so that the incline of the table may beregulated as desired.

rIhe operation of the apparatus is as follows: The reservoir P is filledwith water or other suitable liquid and the cylinders are revolved byhand or driven by belting or gearing from any adjacent source of power.rlhe valve 'n' is turned so that a stream of water will pass through thetubes N and N2 and issue' Y from the openings in said tubes and theirbranches, the material-such as small stones and ea1th--carrying the goldor other metal to be separated being shoveled into the feedtrough L anddirected thereby into the cylinder. The smaller particles will pass atonce through the meshes ot the cylinder J into the cylinder A, and asthe cylinders are revolved the fine material will be washed from thesurface of the stones or rocks thatare too4 large to pass through themeshes of the screen J and will be carried through the same and into thecylinder A. The large stones are t'ed by means of conveyers K to the endof the cylinder J, from which they are delivered onto the trough M,which guides them to one side of the apparatus.

I make the inner casing F of the cylinder A of copper or other material,which has an aiiinity for mercury, and, where circumstances permit, Ialso make the conveying-screw I of copper or like material, so that whenmercury is poured into the apparatus through the trough L the coppercasing of the cylinder and its screw-liange will attract the mercury andwill be completely coated thereby, so that it any particles ofamalgamating metalssuch as gold, silver, daer-are in the earth treatedthey will amalgamate with this mercury and be taken up by it, the restof the earth and lower grades of mineral matter passing on with thewater and being delivered onto the plate q of the spout Q.

It will readily be seen that when the screwiiange I, as well as theinner casing F of the cylinder, is made of copperthe rolling motion ofvthe dirt as it passes down the cylinder will, owing to the rotation ofthe latter, tend to force any grains of gold, dac., against themercury-coated surfaces.

To obtain as much of the gold as possible, I make the plate q of thespout Q, as well as the plates S S', ot` copper, the water and earthfalling from the cylinder onto the plate q, thence falling over theledge q and onto the plate s, thence onto the plate s, the impact ateach fall naturally causing some of the gold that may have escaped fromthe cylinder to adhere to the plate onto which it falls. The ore that istaken up by the plate passes oit into the receiverR, as the mercury inthe receiver is on a level with the edges of the plates, as shown iuFig.2.

The plates t t regulate and equalize thei passage of thematerial overthe bath or receiver R and table S, and as said gates are made also ofcopper they will likewise attract the mercury and catch any smallparticles of gold that may touch them. There may be as many plates s sas required, said plates forming a series of steps, over which thematerial is passed, so as to separate as much gold as possible. Thewater that issues from the tube n2 rewashes the material in itspassage.'

Directly under the plate s is the receivingpan R, containing a bath ofmercury, the lighter particles passing off over the same and over therib u, while any mercury (whether clean or in the form ot' amalgam) thathas not been taken up by the copper of the cylinder, trough, or platesis caught by the receiver or bath R. Any particles that may pass thereceiver, owing to the density of the material covering the bath, passover the rib u and onto the table S, which is also of copper or othersuitable material, the tiow down the table being obstructed by one ormore ribs u. It Will be seen that in its passage through the amalgamatorthe earth will be thoroughly turned over, so that all amalgamatingmaterial which 1t may contain will come in contact with the IOOmercury-coated surfaces, which are continually kept clean, the rollingand tumbling motion preventing the gold from floating.

I have ,found by actual test that I can save considerably more gold inmy machine than by any apparatus now in common use.

In some cases the machine may be used without the plates s s', receiverR, and table S, and in other cases only the cylinder and its trough, theplates, and receiver may be used; but I prefer, where practicable, touse the complete apparatus shown and described.

In some cases I prefer to make the cylinder A in sections, hingedtogether at c', and bolted together in any suitable manner at a2, sothat by detaching the bolt the cylinder may be opened longitudinally, inorder to permit the ready removal of the amalgam from the inner surfaceof the cylinder and its iiange.

The cylinders A and ,I may each be tapered and the cylinder A may beprovided with a short screw-ange I at the delivery end, as Ashown inFig. 5, so as to regulate the delivery from the cylinder, or the innercylinder only may be tapered, and said inner cylinder may be driven at adifferent speed from the cylinder A or in a different direction, ascircumstances may require. In some cases it may be advisable to make thescrew-Hanges detachable for cleansing purposes orfor facilitating themanufacture and application of the same.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown two Ways of adopting this plan inconnection with the flange I. In Fig. 0 the flange is made in one piece,connected to the cylinder at its opposite ends, the cylinderhavingaseries of openings, to any of which the securing-bolts may beadapted, so that the iiange may be conlpressed or expanded to vary itspitch, while in Fig. 7 I have shown a ange consisting of a number ofindependent sections.

I claim as my invention- I. The combination of an amalgamatingcylinder,a screen contained therein, a screwiiange for feeding the material fromthe cylinder, with a series of steps and a mercurypan, and a water-pipeextending through the cylinder and having a branch connected with asprinkler-pipe situated directly above one of the steps, said Water-pipehaving a series of openings whereby jets ot' water are thrown throughthe meshes of the screen onto the cylinder, said water passing with thematerial over the series of steps, substantially as specified.

2. The combinatiomin an amalgamator, of the amalgamatingcylinder, of aneven diameter throughout, a screen-cylinder inside the same, with aninternal screw-ilange in each of said cylinders, an inlet for themercury, the spout, plates, and mercury-pan, and table over which thematerial iows, and an independent spout for guiding the screenedmaterial away from the machine, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY COOK.

Witnesses:

HENRY HowsoN, HARRY SMITH.

